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What I have learned from watching all 20 Premier League teams this season | John Brewin

Set pieces on the rise, fans transformed to customers and conspiracies seen in every decision – is football losing its fun?

English football has always mirrored the passions, conflicts, identities and inequalities of the age. After the golden 1960s, the decay of the 1970s and ensuing disasters of the 1980s came the cap-sleeved, rebounding self-confidence of the 1990s. The 21st century so far has taken in globalisation and wanton commercialism. After that rabid, often reckless push for continued growth, society and the game alight on the uncertainties that encapsulated 2025.

To catch the 20 Premier League clubs in live action this season, and this writer completed the full set on Tuesday witnessing Arsenal’s second-half demolition of Aston Villa, has been a study in that uncertainty. From the grumbling of fans, to the ever-fragile egos of managers, to players slugging through the gristle of 90 minutes of hard-pressing slog, a leading question comes to mind: is anyone actually still enjoying this?

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Oilers Bail On Third Line Experiment In 6-2 Loss To Bruins

Regardless of the final result of Wednesday's New Year's Eve clash between the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers, the Oilers were sitting atop the Pacific Division standings as 2025 was set to cross over into 2026. The Vegas Golden Knights lost to Nashville, and Anaheim's overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning meant the Oilers will ring in the new year in first place.

That was the good news. The bad news? After a 6-2 loss, the Oilers didn't exactly look like a first-place team. 

Trending Stories:

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"Just not hard enough, not hard enough to play against, just not detailed enough, certainly can be a lot better," said a frustrated Leon Draisaitl after the loss. In the very short post-game scrum, he wasn't asked much and didn't have a lot to offer. He talked about a 0-6 power play and noted, "I didn't think we had any looks really, not good enough." 

Draisaitl was a bit more unhappy with the game than head coach Kris Knoblauch, who commented, "I thought our game was better than the score indicated." He didn't mind the team's first period, but a strong performance by Jeremy Swayman and some missed opportunities led to the game slipping away. When asked whether the game did more than slip away -- a different description might have been spun out of control -- Knoblauch noted that it wasn't clear whether it was a result of poor play or if the chances just ended up in the back of their net. 

It could have been a little of both. Connor Ingram struggled. It was not the same performance that he'd been putting in his last three starts, where the feeling was, if he could see the puck, he'd stop it. That didn't happen Wednesday, as a couple of bad goals got past him. 

The good?

Connor McDavid had eight shots and was driving hard to the net most of the night. Jack Roslovic also looked solid, scoring a goal and getting promoted off the third line and up to the top six. "Looks like we need him playing in the top six," Knoblauch said.

That third-line situation is teetering on the verge of becoming a genuine concern. Knoblauch felt like he needed to make a switch mid-game and wanted Draisaitl to have a bit more support, which he wasn't getting from the attempt to spark Andrew Mangiapane. As much as the Oilers want to get a third line going, it's now clear the team can't afford to sacrifice the strength of the top two lines.

Knoblauch all but confirmed the Draisaitl, Roslovic, and Vasily Podkolzin trio is the way the Oilers will go moving forward. 

As for Mangiapane, he had a good opportunity but didn't do much with it. Knoblauch didn't hate his game, but he played only 7:31. "We made that switch putting Roslovic there. Obviously, we feel that Roslovic is a better player, but I thought Andrew did some things that helped us."

What happens with Mangiapane as the calendar flips over to 2026 will be a storyline worth watching. 

Andrew Mangiapane got taken off the second line vs. the Bruins. Photo by:  © Walter Tychnowicz  Imagn Images

Injury Updates:

Knoblauch offered a bit of information on some key injuries. Tristan Jarry is likely mid-January. "I don't think it will be any sooner than that." Jake Walman is out for at least another week, if not two. Kasperi Kapanen could play on the weekend, but he hasn't had the practice time, which the Oilers might want to give him more reps before throwing him into game action. 

The Game Results:

The Bruins took the first penalty of the game when Elias Lindholm slashed Bouchard's stick. That leantly was canceled out when Hyman got called for holding. Then in a weird play, Ingram played the puck about an inch outside the trapezoid and got called for it. By then, the Bruins were on a two-man advantage, with David Pastrnak making it 1-0 and scoring. The good news for Edmonton was that the goal came on the second of the two power plays, meaning it was back to 5-on-5. 

With six minutes left in the first, McDavid got a break after an icing left him on the ice far longer than his shift should have been. Jeremy Swayman made the stop. 

Oilers draw another call. McCavoy took the penalty for holding. The Bruins killed it off. 

Casey Mittelstadt came in on the wing and put one past Ingram to make it 2-0 with 1:42 left in the first. It was a good shot, but one Ingram might have wanted back. 

The Oilers got on the board with 40 seconds left as McDavid dangled through three Bruins' players and set up Hyman with an easy tap in that Swayman had no chance on. Edmonton had been getting looks but couldn't captialize. They finally did. Draisaitl got another good look to end the period. 

The Oilers got a quick power play to start the second period. 

A shot Ingram never saw got passed him at the 7:05 mark of the second period. He had two bodies in front of him and could find the puck that went up high. 

The Oilers power play troubles have been the story of the game so far. Typically on fire, to this points in the game, it has gone 0-for-4.

The Bruins made it 4-1 when Jonathan Aspirot banged home a rebound on a bit of a broken down 2-on-1. McDavid has been trying to spark the offense, driving to the net and skating hard. He's been the only player to drive hard north, versus pulling up and trying the extra pass. 

The Oilers looked to push to start the third, but they continued to look out of sync. Ingram let a stinker in on one he tried to stop with his glove, popped up in the air, and went in. At 5-1, it wasn't looking like the Oilers night. 

Jack Roslovic did score as another Oilers power play came and went with no goal. It was a 5-on-5 marker to make it 5-2. 

Pastrnak made it 6-2 on big on-timer that snuck through Ingram's five-hole. 

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Mike Brown critical of Knicks' defense in loss to Spurs: 'Our physicality is not good'

The Knicks scored a season-high 45 points in the first quarter and led by as many as 19 points on Wednesday night, but let it all slip away, eventually falling to the San Antonio Spurs, 134-132.

New York allowed 41 fourth-quarter points in the loss, including 12 to Julian Champagnie on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from three-point land. The former St. John's star made a Spurs-record 11 threes in total, finishing with a game high 36 points.

After the game, head coach Mike Brown didn't beat around the bush with what went wrong for the Knicks.

"Great win by San Antonio, they just outworked us in a lot of different ways," Brown said. "Mitch (Johnson) kicked my a--, the rest of the team kicked our a--, we all got our a-- kicked today so you got to give San Antonio a ton of credit.

"Julian Champagnie, he was fantastic, he shot the mess out of the ball and he made the shots. I was a little disappointed in our guys because it was almost like we didn't respect him. We didn't pick him up in transition... We know he's a hot player and that's what he does, but he just kept getting look after look after look after look after look that were wide open. You give him a lot of credit because he knocked the shots down, but I was really, really disappointed in the way we defended him."

In addition to Champagnie's scoring being a difference-maker, the Spurs went 32-of-40 from the foul line compared to 18-of-20 shooting from the charity stripe for the Knicks. Brown acknowledged that some of San Antonio's foul shots came toward the end of the game, but still pointed to the large "free throw disparity" in the game. 

"40 free throw attempts, I know we fouled late in the game... They almost doubled us in free throw attempts the whole game," Brown said. "I don't know, maybe we weren't aggressive enough, I'm not sure. It'd be interesting to go back to look at the film to see why we couldn't get to the free throw line but why they were getting to the free throw line.

"That's a huge disadvantage if you're talking about 20 to 40 from the free throw line. And again you have to take into consideration that some of those fouls at the end of the game we were fouling to get an opportunity to stop the clock and try to go score. It's going to be tough if the free throw disparity is that big."

In addition to the fouling problems, Brown went on to discuss the team's defense as a whole. He said they need to do a better job about not reaching, instead "leading with the chest, not with our hands."

"We as a team got to figure out how we can be physical but defend without fouling," Brown said.

He emphasized New York's physicality needs to improve, believing the group hasn't shown that ability through a full game this season. Brown added that there needs to be a "sense of urgency" defensively in order to win games like Wednesday night's. 

"A team scores 134 points (against you), first of all it's our physicality," Brown said. "We haven't figured out how to be physical for 48 minutes in the last I don't know how many games. But doing it without fouling. We pick up some silly fouls that we have to do a better job of. I feel everybody understands that, but now we just have to go do it. Our physicality is not good. 

"I don't know if we're tired or what, but we have not been able to sustain anything defensively for 48 minutes. We've won a lot of games, and you want to win games, and you feel good about it. But at the end of the day, if we don't figure out how to sustain what we're supposed to do on the defensive end of the floor for 48 minutes it's going to be a long year for us and it's going to eventually catch up to us. Our physicality, our inability to sustain what we're supposed to do on that end of the floor, and for a while it was our transition defense... those areas are really big for us."

Like Brown mentioned, New York will need show an improved, physical style of defense if they want to achieve their long-term goals. Their first try at turning it around in 2026 comes right away as they'll face the Atlanta Hawks back home at The Garden on Thursday night.

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MacKinnon Joins the 400 Club as Avalanche Rout Blues on New Year’s Eve

DENVER —  Nathan MacKinnon scored twice to become the 114th player in NHL history to reach 400 career goals, and the Colorado Avalanche closed out 2025 with a dominant 6–1 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena. 

MacKinnon also became the first player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to record 70 points in fewer than 40 games into a season.

But that wasn’t all. 

Valeri Nichushkin recorded his second career regular season hat trick, Brock Nelson added a goal, and the night quickly turned into what could only be described as an Olympic-style beatdown. Colorado scored four times in the opening 4:39, seizing control early against St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington, who was selected to represent Team Canada at the Milan Olympics despite entering the night with a sub-.900 save percentage. 

At the other end, Mackenzie Blackwood—left off the Olympic roster in favor of Binnington—turned aside 12 shots. 

Dalibor Dvorsky scored the lone goal for the Blues and Binnington, a former Stanley Cup champion, allowed six goals on 43 shots, including four on the first nine he faced. 

With the win, the Avalanche (30-2-7) extended their winning streak to nine games and their home winning streak to 15 games. 

First Period 

Nichushkin opened the scoring just 60 seconds into the game, taking a pass from Artturi Lehkonen in the slot before firing a shot that caromed off Binnington and was tucked home on the rebound to give Colorado a 1–0 lead. The goal came on the first shot Binnington faced, hours after he had been named to Team Canada’s Olympic roster. 

Cale Makar appeared to double the advantage moments later, snapping a shot past the St. Louis netminder, but the goal was overturned following a review that determined MacKinnon had made incidental contact with the goaltender just prior to the shot, which was deflected off a Blues defenseman. 

The reversal proved inconsequential. On Colorado’s next shot, Nichushkin struck again, beating Binnington to restore a two-goal cushion. The Avalanche maintained the pressure, and on the ensuing attempt, MacKinnon converted a rebound for his 400th career NHL goal, becoming the 114th player in league history to reach the milestone. 

MacKinnon wasn’t finished. On the very next shot, he scored again, notching his 401st career goal and extending the lead to 4–0. By that point, Binnington—whose Olympic selection had been widely criticized earlier in the day—had surrendered four goals on nine shots, as Colorado overwhelmed St. Louis in a relentless opening surge. 

With under nine minutes remaining in the period, Blackwood robbed Jimmy Snuggerud on a highlight-reel cross-crease save, deflecting the puck off his blocker just moments after the forward slipped around Devon Toews. 

At the end of the first, the Avalanche led 4–0, and the shots told the same story, with Colorado holding a commanding 20–4 advantage. 

Second Period 

The second period began at a noticeably slower pace, but the Avalanche continued to control play. Colorado generated five shots on goal in the first eight minutes, while St. Louis managed just one. 

The Blues were then penalized when Jake Neighbours was called for tripping Gabe Landeskog. This time, the Avalanche power play delivered, as Brock Nelson one-timed a feed from MacKinnon from the right circle to extend the lead to 5–0. 

Just over a minute later, Colorado was forced to the penalty kill after Josh Manson tripped Snuggerud off a faceoff in the defensive zone. The Avalanche handled the situation cleanly and returned to even strength with just under seven minutes remaining in the period. 

Parker Kelly was later assessed a high-sticking penalty with under five minutes to play after catching Neighbours in the helmet, but St. Louis’ power play lasted less than a minute. Justin Faulk was then whistled for interference, leading to a brief stretch of 4-on-4 hockey. 

Third Period 

Colorado failed to capitalize on the carryover power play, but the script remained unchanged as the Avalanche continued to dictate the pace. Six minutes into the final frame, Colorado held a commanding 38–7 edge in shots on goal, with St. Louis still searching for its first shot of the period. 

The Blues finally got on the board with 5:28 remaining when Dvorsky executed a perfect redirect on a shot from Matthew Kessel that slipped through traffic. 

The Avalanche, however, had the final word. Nichushkin capped the night with his second career hat trick after breaking free from Oskar Sundqvist, taking a feed from Sam Malinski at the point, and deking around Binnington to seal a 6–1 victory on New Year’s Eve. 

Injuries 

Gavin Brindley tweaked something in his upper-body with roughly 7 minutes to go in the game and is being evaluated. Head Coach Jared Bednar told The Hockey News that hopefully it’s nothing too serious. 

Next Game 

The Avalanche will kick off 2026 from home when they face the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. Coverage begins at 5 p.m. local time.  

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Steven Stamkos scores goal No. 600, Predators win New Year’s Eve matinee in Vegas 4-2

NHL: Nashville Predators at Vegas Golden Knights

Dec 31, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos (91) celebrates with team mates after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at T-Mobile Arena. The goal was the 600th of his NHL career. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored his 600th career goal and the Nashville Predators beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Wednesday.

The Predators, in the middle of a season-long seven-game road trip, won for the 12th time in 17 games, including the third of their first four on the trip.

The win put the Predators (18-17-4) above .500 for the first time since Oct. 16, just five games into the season, when they were 2-1-2.

Vegas, meanwhile, lost for the sixth time in seven games. The Knights closed their four-game homestand with a 1-2-1 mark.

Now in his 18th season, Stamkos scored his 18th of the season and ninth against the Golden Knights since they entered the league in 2017. The game-tying goal was part of an unanswered three-goal spurt over five minutes that turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead for the Predators.

Nick Perbix, Reid Schaefer and Michael Bunting also scored for the Predators. Justus Annunen made 29 saves.

Former Knight Erik Haula, who is two games shy of skating in his 800th game, registered the 200th assist of his career on Bunting’s goal.

Mark Stone, who earlier in the day was named to Canada’s Olympic roster, scored his 10th goal of the season, while Ben Hutton added his sixth for the Knights. Akira Schmid stopped 15 shots before being pulled late in the third period for an extra skater.

Vegas forward Mitch Marner and defenseman Shea Theodore were also named to Canada’s team. All three of the Knights represented their homeland in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.

Up next

Nashville: Visits Seattle on Thursday.

Vegas: Visits St. Louis on Friday.

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Every Trade And Signing By The Pittsburgh Penguins In 2025

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, it was a busy, busy calendar year for the Pittsburgh Penguins and GM/POHO Kyle Dubas. 

With the Penguins in a transitional period, there is a lot happening in terms of movement. The trades started as early as January in 2025 and happened all the way to the last day of the year on Wednesday, when Pittsburgh acquired defenseman Egor Zamurov from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Philip Tomasino.

Between trades and signings, it's been a lot to digest, and there is a lot to look back on. So - as a refresher - here is every trade and signing (training camp transactions aside) that the Penguins made in 2025:

- Jan. 3, 2025: Penguins acquire defenseman Colton Poolman from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for forward Bennett MacArthur

- Jan. 15, 2025: Penguins place goaltender Tristan Jarry on waivers

- Feb. 1, 2025: Penguins acquire a 2025 conditional first-round pick (New York Rangers), forward prospect Melvin Fernstrom, forward Danton Heinen, and defenseman Vincent Desharnais from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O'Connor 

- Feb. 9, 2025: Penguins claim defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok off waivers from Utah. 

- Feb 13, 2025: Penguins acquire center Mathias Laferriere from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for right wing Corey Andonovski

Pittsburgh Penguins' New Year's Resolutions: 2025 EditionPittsburgh Penguins' New Year's Resolutions: 2025 EditionThere were some ups and downs for Pittsburgh Penguins' players in 2025. So what can they resolve to accomplish in 2026?

- Feb. 26, 2025: Penguins place forward Matt Nieto on waivers

- Mar. 3, 2025: Penguins sign defenseman Finn Harding to three-year entry-level contract

- Mar. 5, 2025: Penguins acquire forward Tommy Novak and defenseman Luke Schenn from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Bunting and a 2026 fourth-round pick

- Mar. 7, 2025: Penguins sign defenseman Ryan Shea to one-year, $900,000 contract extension

- Mar. 7, 2025: Penguins acquire a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Schenn

- Mar. 7, 2025: Penguins acquire forward prospects Chase Stillman and Max Graham and a 2027 third-round pick from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Cody Glass

- Mar. 7, 2025: Penguins acquire defenseman Conor Timmins and forward Connor Dewar from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round draft pick

- Mar. 9, 2025: Penguins sign defenseman Chase Pietila to a three-year entry-level contract

- Mar. 10, 2025: Penguins sign defenseman Daniel Laatsch to a two-year entry-level contract

- Mar. 13, 2025: Penguins sign forward Avery Hayes to a two-year entry-level contract

'It Just Made Sense For Us To Do It At This Time': Penguins' GM Kyle Dubas Gives Insight On Jarry Trade'It Just Made Sense For Us To Do It At This Time': Penguins' GM Kyle Dubas Gives Insight On Jarry TradeIt's safe to say that <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/latest-news/breaking-penguins-deal-tristan-jarry-to-edmonton-oilers">the trade sending Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltender Tristan Jarry and forward Sam Poulin to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday</a> - which returned goaltender Stuart Skinner, defenseman Brett Kulak, and a 2029 second-round pick - surprised a whole lot of people, fans and players alike.

- Apr. 28, 2025: Penguins sign forward Filip Hallander to a two-year, $1.55 million contract

- May 31, 2025: Penguins sign forward Mikhail Ilyin to a three-year entry-level contract

- Jun. 13, 2025: Penguins sign forward Boko Imama to a one-year, $775,000 contract

- Jun. 13, 2025: Penguins sign forward Melvin Fernstrom to a three-year entry-level contract

- Jun. 17, 2025: Penguins sign forward Joona Koppanen to a one-year, $775,000 contract

- Jun. 27, 2025: Penguins acquire a 2025 first-round pick (#22) and a 2025 first-round pick (#31) from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a 2025 first-round pick (#12)  

- Jun 27, 2025: Penguins acquire a 2025 first-round pick (#24) from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2025 first-round pick (#31) and 2025 second-round pick (#59)  

- Jun. 28, 2025: Penguins acquire defenseman Connor Clifton and a 2025 second-round pick (#39) from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defensemen Conor Timmins and Isaac Belliveau

- Jun. 28, 2025: Penguins acquire a 2025 third-round pick (#91) and a 2025 fifth-round pick (#154) from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a 2025 3rd round pick (#85)

- Jul. 1, 2025: Penguins acquire a 2028 3rd round pick from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic

Chinakhov Trade Shows Penguins Are Starting To Shift GearsChinakhov Trade Shows Penguins Are Starting To Shift GearsKyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins traded for Yegor Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, and it could be a sign of things to come over the next several months.

- Jul. 1, 2025: Penguins sign defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to a two-year, two million contract

- Jul. 1, 2025: Penguins sign forward Philip Tomasino to a one-year, $1.75 million contract

- Jul. 1, 2025: Penguins sign forward Connor Dewar to a one-year, $1.1 million contract

- Jul. 1, 2025: Penguins sign forward Justin Brazeau to a two-year, $3 million contract

- Jul. 1, 2025: Penguins sign defenseman Caleb Jones to a two-year, $1.8 million contract

- Jul. 2, 2025: Penguins sign forward Anthony Mantha to a one-year, $2.5 million contract

- Jul. 2, 2025: Penguins sign defenseman Phil Kemp to a two-year, $1.55 million contract

- Jul. 2, 2025: Penguins sign forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard to a one-year, $775,000 contract

- Jul. 2, 2025: Penguins sign defenseman Alexander Alexeyev to a one-year, $775,000 contract

- Jul. 9, 2025: Penguins sign forward Benjamin Kindel to a three-year entry-level contract

The Five Best On-Ice Moments For The Penguins In 2025The Five Best On-Ice Moments For The Penguins In 20252025 is about to end, so let's look at the five best on-ice moments for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

- Jul. 10, 2025:  Penguins acquire defenseman Matt Dumba and a 2028 second-round pick from the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok

- Jul. 13, 2025: Penguins acquire goaltender Arturs Silovs from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for forward Chase Stillman and a 2027 fourth-round pick

- Nov. 24, 2025: Penguins sign defenseman Peyton Kettles to a three-year entry-level contract

- Dec. 12, 2025: Penguins acquire goaltender Stuart Skinner, defenseman Brett Kulak, and a 2029 second-round pick from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for goaltender Tristan Jarry and forward Samuel Poulin

- Dec. 29, 2025: Penguins acquire forward Yegor Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for forward Danton Heinen, a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 third-round pick

- Dec. 31, 2025:  Penguins acquire defenseman Yegor Zamula from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward Philip Tomasino

Penguins Trade Tomasino To Flyers For ZamulaPenguins Trade Tomasino To Flyers For ZamulaThe Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers made a trade on Wednesday.

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!     

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Observations From Blues' 6-1 Loss Vs. Avalanche

When Jim Montgomery was asked about why sometimes fear brings out the best in players.

“Because like even fear of losing brings out the best in you, because you pay more attention to detail, you think about … you’re preparing to stay in the moment because you’re afraid of fear of losing or fear of being embarrassed creates the same thing,” the St. Louis Blues coach said. “There’s urgency in everything you do and we haven’t had enough urgency as a group and I understand everything I’m saying points directly at me. I lead this team and I take full ownership of my part in us not having hit the standard that I believe we should be at.”

Well, the Blues forgot the memo of being embarrassed. Because on New Year’s Eve, they were embarrassed, bludgeoned, bamboozled, whatever one wants to call it.

Tony Duke said it best when he was vehemently looking at Rocky Balboa in the film Rocky III to “Throw the Damn Towel.” The Blues didn’t even have to drop the puck, because it would have been better to ‘Throw the Damn Towel’ before the puck was even dropped because the Blues were overwhelmed in the game’s first five minutes, and the Colorado Avalanche played true to form with their team name, putting up an avalanche of goals early and blitzed the Blues, 6-1, on Wednesday at Ball Arena in Denver.

It was literally over before it started, as the Blues (15-18-8) once again failed to start a game, and against the team that is far and beyond the best team in the NHL right now (30-2-7) and they made the Blues look like mince meat.

Dalibor Dvorsky did score for the Blues in the third period, which was all the offense the Blues got.

Let’s look at tonight’s game observations (and this will be brief, I can promise you):

* It was over before it started (almost) – The Avalanche are a well-oiled machine, and if you’re not ready to play against them, you can look like a fool.

Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin made sure of it, as far as the Blues were concerned.

Each player scored twice in the game’s first 4:39.

Whether it was poor coverage, a lack of protecting their own net, a neutral zone turnover and then not making up for it by covering your ground on the other end, five guys backing into the zone and allowing the Avalanche to dangle the puck on a string. That pretty much encapsulated each of the Colorado goals.

And that was that.

All I can say is poor Jordan Binnington, who once again had a team in front of him fail him miserably on the day he got named to Canada’s Winter Olympic squad.

It was so bad that at one point, the Avalanche were up 4-0 and outshooting the Blues 14-0 before the Blues even got their first shot – SHOT – on goal, and it was a Jimmy Snuggerud one-timer that needed a terrific Mackenzie Blackwood save.

It took the Blues more than 35 minutes(!) into the game to have more shots than the Avalanche had goals. That’s surreal even to type in, but it was true. The final shot clock total finished 43-13 and shot attempts finished 79-28. Ouch.

Jordan Kyrou’s quick one-timer at the back post off a Robert Thomas pass was the Blues’ sixth shot of the game more than 35 minutes into the game. Colorado led 5-0 at the time.

This is the kind of game that shows you that the Blues are closer to the bottom of the standings than they are to the playoffs, even though they end the calendar year just three points out of a wild card in the Western Conference.

But let’s be serious here. Do you want to finish as the second wild card and face this squad and get absolutely obliterated in four games? I think not.

So the Blues end the calendar year in 2025 with a 41-31-12 record.

That’s all I’ve got, because from a Blues standpoint, aside from Binnington actually making some great stops and a goal actually being waved off for goalie interference that actually upset MacKinnon because he was the culprit, they did nothing else.

To make matters worse, Thomas was on the ice in the last three minutes and appeared to have his leg rolled up on and was having trouble getting off the ice after the game.

Happy New Year.

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Canadiens Skilled Prospect Is On Fire In AHL

Montreal Canadiens prospect Joshua Roy has been having a solid season down in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Laval Rocket. In 20 games on the year with the AHL club, he has recorded eight goals, 10 assists, 18 points, and a plus-1 rating. With this, he has certainly been a key offensive contributor for Laval this campaign.

Yet, what's more encouraging is that Roy is only staying red-hot with Laval as of late. The Canadiens prospect currently has a four-game point streak with the AHL club, where he has recorded two goals and four assists over that span. He has also posted nine points over his last seven games, so there is no question that he is feeling it right now. 

Roy producing offensively like this with Laval is certainly good to see. If he continues to produce well for the AHL club, it could very well open the door for him to get another chance on the Canadiens' NHL roster again soon. 

Roy has played in three games this season with the Canadiens, where he has recorded zero points and two shots. In 38 career NHL games with the Habs over three seasons, he posted six goals, five assists, and 11 points. The young forward is still looking to break out and become a full-time NHL player, but he certainly is showing promise in the AHL right now.